Reds InsiderFrom news of the day to news of the weird, John Fay provides a glimpse of what it’s like to cover the Cincinnati Reds

John Fay has been the Reds beat writer for the Enquirer since 2001. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles for the Enquirer: backup Reds writer, UC beat writer, backup Bengals writer and as a general assignment reporter. He is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of Elder High School and the University of Dayton.

How did he get over the postseason disappointment in 2002 and '03: “Just by thinking, studying, being thankful for life . . . How long can you live in pain? You do that it’s not living. You just go forward big time. You can’t live in the past. Live for today.”

His Cincinnati memories: “I remember everybody in town being in red,” he said. “I remember being brainwashed before I ever got to the stadium. I’d see red in windows. Women had red dresses on. Men had red hats on. I remember knowing when you had them down they had a good chance of coming back to beat you.”

Can he bring that back? “I’d like that. I’d love that actually. Winning does that. I’d feel like I did some of my job. I saw that on the caravan – we went to parts of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. People are yearning to come back. They want something to come back to. Winning does that.”

8 Comments:

Some people (Cubs fans) says that he can't coach. I don't really believe that. But I do know that he can talk and right now he is saying all the right things. I'm excited! But after the last few years of losing my excitement is definitely sustained by thoughts of "here we go agian". It's a good day to be a Reds fan! Let it not be the only excitement we feel this season.

The rumor I heard about Dusty,when he was still at Chicago was that he over works his pitchers to death and doesn't like rookies.I hope this is not true and we end the season in the World Series and our pitching staff comes out healthy and not over worked...

He had the same reputation in SF. Strangely, there was this one time he actually pulled the starter early, with a 5 run lead, handed him the game ball.....2 innings and a rally monkey later, the Giants were left wondering what the heck just happened, the wind taken out of their sails.

The following year wasn't any better - the Cub fans blame Bartman for the foul ball and the Cubs subsequent loss. But it wasn't Bartman that gave up an 8 spot to the Marlins. It was Dusty not knowing when to pull a pitcher and knowing when to leave him in.

Here's to hoping that he's learned his lessons well in SF and Chicago....

You sidestepping the eight of 10 years in San Francisco when his teams were first or second?

For a bunch that complains with every passing breath the past seven years about the Reds being losers, you'd sure be unhappy with that record of contending, right?

(No, Barry Bonds did not bat in slots 1-8 in San Fran, nor did he hold all 12 spots on the pitching staff.)

You sidestepping his first Cubs team that was a couple of outs from the World Series? Or that the divisional champion (Cardinals) his second year went to the World Series and won over 100 games?

Or are you gleefully pointing to the last two Cubs teams ripped apart by injuries? Guessing the loss of Lee, Wood, Prior, et al in 2006 is conveniently overlooked. Imagine an already sub-.500 Reds team without Harang, Arroyo and Phillips.

Meanwhile, Baker also put youngsters Zambrano, Marshall, Marmol, Guzman and Mateo in the rotation that year, and Cedeno and Murton in the lineup.

But yeah, Dusty's history is he hates young players. But there they are, all under age 25, starting, just like Patterson and Ramirez the previous three years. Just like he did in San Francisco with Reuter, Estes, Tavares, Aurilia, Clayton, Phillips, Beck, Torres, Van Landingham and more.

Time and again we tell you this and time and again you don't comprehend it:

When Baker's had young talent that was better than the veterans, who gave the team a better chance to win that day or that season, they have played.

So why not give Baker a chance for, say, a week of spring training games, or better, a season or two, before repeating the epitaphs of fans of a time-proven loser organization?

* Our online blogs currently are hosted and operated by a third party, namely, Blogger.com. You are now leaving the Cincinnati.Com website and will be linked to Blogger.com's registration page. The Blogger.com site and its associated services are not controlled by Cincinnati.Com and different terms of use and privacy policy will apply to your use of the Blogger.com site and services.

By proceeding and/or registering with Blogger.com you agree and understand that Cincinnati.Com is not responsible for the Blogger.com site you are about to access or for any service you may use while on the Blogger.com site.
<< Home